


Behind the Scenes

by tighthae



Category: ASTRO (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers, Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-25
Updated: 2018-04-24
Packaged: 2019-04-27 14:57:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,203
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14427951
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tighthae/pseuds/tighthae
Summary: Superheroes and superpowers weren't all what they were made out to be.





	Behind the Scenes

**Author's Note:**

> something i threw together a v long time ago after reading a book series abt putting a modern/capitalist spin on magic i thot I'd do the same myself but in a diff setting. Warning: unsatisfying ending this literally has no plot I think i planned to make multiple chapters so I ended it where I did and also i dont spellcheck or grammar check bc I am too skinny for that

The Iron Man standee that stood in front of JInwoo’s window was his curtain. It belonged their, basking in the sunlight with Tony Stark’s arm extended toward the rays in his signature posed. Jinwoo had always admired western superheroes. Western superheroes fought evil because it was the right thing to do. Random citizens fighting for the safety of other people, how comforting. Jinwoo wanted to use his powers for good, he really did, but he also wanted to eat and have a comfortable mattress and not have to rely on public transportation. Having a sense of justice didn’t solve those problems. Being a sellout did. Cereal boxes that had your face on it made money, sponsorships from clothes companies were the key to fortune, not saving cats from trees or stopping a villian from making a doomsday device. Although, foiling villainous behavior made for good publicity. 

Yes, for every human born with powers its ideal for them to use if to save the world from evil. Unless you prefer living day to day life without struggling. If someone is in the latter, then they find more practical uses for their jobs. Like Jinwoo. 

Waking up was a task. Jinwoo had to shut out the thoughts of the neighbors and sometimes the animals or maybe even a fly. Telepathy was hard to deal with, but it made for a good skill when put on a resume when applying to a PR firm. Specifically a PR firm for superheroes. Yes, public relation firms just for heroes. In this part of the world, heroes are idolized and make money just like any ordinary celebrity. Just imagine Hollywood but the actors have to take accountability for the deaths of innocent bystanders. It was Jinwoo’s job to make sure that heroes aren’t ostracized. Being able to read people’s thoughts made it very easy. 

“You took the subway here, right, Jinwoo?” Jinwoo was trying to keep up with his boss’ pace. Apparently, the stunt yesterday has not garnered the most positive reception. “What were the people saying?”

“Well, what do you think the citizens are thinking? When you get thrown into a building and are responsible for several casualties, the opinion of the general public won’t be a good one.” Jinwoo commented.

“Don’t get smart with me,” Chanmi snapped. “If our hero goes down we all go down. If we can’t get him out of this rut we don’t have any customer which means you and I starve. Jinwoo, you’re the best telepathic guy I know, I’m counting on you to soak up all the suggestions everyday people are thinking so we can find a way to apply it.”

“I can’t help but think extracting the thoughts of the citizens for our own personal gain is illegal,” Jinwoo said as he made his way into the elevator. “Heroes don’t have PR Firms in the west.”

“Boo hoo,” Chanmi pressed the button to their department. “Heroes wouldn’t have been perceived this way if it wasn’t for idol culture. It’s a good way to make money so I suggest you stop complaining before you’re fired.”

“As soon as you fire me another firm will pick me up. Telepathics are in high demand right now.” Jinwoo stuck his tongue out.

“Yea, yea, whatever smart ass,” Chanmi waved her hand around signalling vague dismissal. “Run me the thoughts of the civilians.”

“The most common thought was to hold a memorial service for the victims. The whole death penalty thing for the villain is stirring up conflict. For what I can see, the majority wants the guy put to death. We have people with mind controlling abilities, right? I’m sure we can get a judge to be in favor of lethal injection.” Jinwoo shrugged.

“Memorial, death penalty, compensation gifts,” Chanmi mumbled to herself while scribbling away on her clipboard. “We can just kill the guy in a mysterious accident if the judge doesn’t have a weak will. Choa can conjure up some sort of malfunction with electricity. It’ll all run smoothly.”

“Why are we going to the 8th floor anyway?” Jinwoo asked.

“Some upcoming superboy in the works. His management wants a solid firm.” Chanmi looked at her own reflection in the metallic prison and adjusted her blazer. “Our reputation precedes us. Apparently he’s a solo under Super Management. We gotta be careful with this guy, this will make our break us.”

“So, you made me walk with you so I could read the man’s thoughts and tailor the responses to him.” Chanmi knew that was a statement and not a question.

“You catch on quick, these days,” Chanmi pat down her skirt. “Or maybe you can just read minds. That’s probably it.”

“Ladies first.” Jinwoo gestured as the elevator doors opened. 

“Somethings that you’ll need to know that you’re working with this guy,” Chanmi grabbed a folder from someone approaching them. “He’s a rising star, the most popular rookie right now. The whole ‘I rose from sidekick to superhero’ is gaining a lot of traction, everyone is eating it up. Apparently, from bystander’s surveys, he’s the most good looking rookie and will probably overtake Chanyeol when he reaches his peak. Also, it seems like he’s well mannered, blah, blah, blah. Basically, he’s a pretty boy with good etiquette.” Chanmi threw the presumed profile into some random cubicle.

“Can I get a name?” 

“Cha Eunwoo is his stage name to protect his real identity. In my opinion, it’s stupid. Why make a legal name your brand? Anyway, his file says Lee Dongmin is his birth name. You didn't hear it from me but it doesn’t roll of the tongue well. Maybe that’s why he changed it to something prettier?” And no, he doesn’t wear a mask but apparently he doesn’t go outside much so I’m assuming it doesn’t matter. Also, he’s from abroad so he doesn’t have any native colleagues or classmates that would out him. It’s a good a good strategy, recruiting the best looking kids from abroad so they can show their faces,” Chanmi stopped abruptly. “Don’t fuck this up.” Chanmi swung the door to the meeting room open. “Mr. Kim!” Chanmi tried her best to let her tone drip with the sweetest of honey. “I’ve been so excited to meet you and Cha Eunwoo,” Chanmi stuck her hand out and smiled. “Let me start off by saying I am so glad that you chose our firm, we will do our best to cater to him.”

Jinwoo focused in on Mr. Kim’s thoughts, blocking out Chanmi’s and Cha Eunwoo’s. Mr. Kim was not expecting a mind reader to be present so his thought barrier were on low alert allowing Jinwoo to slip by the security with ease. It’s obvious this woman has ulterior motives. I wish she’d be real with me. Jinwoo came from behind Chanmi to shake Mr. Kim’s hand. “Stop being so uppity,” He mumbled out of the corner of his lip. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mr Kim,” Jinwoo reached out for a handshake. “I’m Park Jinwoo. I don’t know if our firm told you about me, but just think of me as the organizer and surveyor.” 

“Call me Myungjun,” Myungjun smiled and shook Jinwoo’s hand with enthusiasm. Jinwoo made eye contact with Chanmi using his peripheral vision that meant “I told you so!”. “We’ve heard a lot about your firm,” Myungjun gestured to the other side of the conference table. “Can I take a seat?”

“Oh, yes, please do.” Jinwoo replied while following his lead, tugging on Chanmi’s sleeve.

“Eunwoo and I have heard a lot about your firm,” Myungjun continued, now seated. “Your knack for knowing exactly what the public wants has made you a popular choice for PR firms. But, that does make me a bit suspicious. How do you know what to do? What’s your secret, if you don’t mind telling me.”

“Instead of looking at online opinions like social media apps or internet forums, we take a more personal approach,” Chanmi replied. “We go out and survey people without knowing they’re being surveyed,” That part wasn’t a lie. “We send out several different people to prowl the streets and gather the opinions of other people indirectly,” Again, not a complete lie. “For example, we’d send Jinwoo out to the subway station with another coworker and have them start talking about an event that has the public’s attention. An example would be the casualties caused by Chanyeol defending the city. People on the subway may look up and pay attention to the conversation or they might interject and voice their opinion. Others may nod in agreement rather than vocalize their opinions and we take that into account as well. It’s quite a clever business model.” Jinwoo doesn’t know how anyone could believe that. Anything is possible when superheroes are occupying the streets. 

“That’s a very interesting way to do things,”Myungjun nodded. There were no contradictory thoughts running through his head so Jinwoo thinks that Chanmi’s explanation worked. “How do you plan on handling the Chanyeol case?”

“A memorial here, a speech there, compensation for the victims, Chanyeol will have to take a break from social media. We’ll have to ship him off to another country for a few months if things get to hot.” Jinwoo explained.

“You said you were an organizer,” Myungjun began, now facing Jinwoo. “The surveyor part was already explained, but I want to know more about the organization.”

“Since I get the opinions of the public, I also organize events that will help out the hero. Of course, I have to run it through Chanmi before I can start brining the ideas to life, but I’m the guy who makes the blueprints,” Jinwoo replied. “Chanmi is the one who brings the blueprints to fruition, secures funding, manages the events, and contacts the needed parties. If you were wondering.” Jinwoo already knew that he was wondering.

“You have a deal,” Myungjun smiled in response. “I hope that we won’t need to use you guys, no offense, but if we do, I know we’ll be in good hands.”

-

“Your username should be neutral when you’re making a Twitter account. Never make your personal opinions obvious when you create one. Some celebrities just combine random letters and numbers so that it’s neutral, but it’s usually hard to find if you don’t make it related to your name or brand in some way.” Chanmi had demanded Jinwoo help Cha Eunwoo set up a social media account since the first step to positive press is interacting with fans. Eunwoo was boring, Jinwoo noticed. His actions were boring, his thoughts were mundane, and his he spoke too formally. They were sitting in the conference room again, Jinwoo leaning into Eunwoo to give him instructions. Oddly, he wasn’t uncomfortable.

“Should I relate it to something with ice?” Eunwoo asked.

“I don’t know, you tell me, it’s your Twitter,” Jinwoo said. “If not, we can just pay the person who has the Eunwoo screen name.”

“What am I supposed to do with this? Do all heroes need Twitter accounts?” 

“Interact with your fans, hold polls, mention some people, tell them you love, send them selfies, express your gratitude. Have a fucking field day, I don’t care. Just don’t do anything dumb and make sure you always know what you’re saying is correct,” Jinwoo stretched in his seat. “Twitter is for celebrities to interact with the fans but it’s also used to collect data. Maybe the public don’t like how you handled an interview or maybe you carried that lady you saved from a burning building in an inappropriate manner. Data, data, data! That’s what we used Twitter for.”

“You’re a mind reader.” Eunwoo blurted out.

“Oh no, you caught me!” Jinwoo feigned surprised. “My career is on the line! Yea, dude, I’m telepathic why do you think this firm does so well?”

“Why did you lie to Myungjun, then?”

“Do you really think your manager would trust us if they found out we were invading people’s thoughts and using them to our advantage?” Jinwoo didn’t wait for a response. “Exactly!” Jinwoo pushed himself off the desk, wheels taking him to the large window behind them. “You’re wondering why I didn’t lie to you, right?” Jinwoo got up to walk to the watercooler at the other end of the room. “Don’t answer that question. Superheros can detect other superheros, which is why you knew I was born with powers right off the bat. It would look sketchy if we tried to convince you but we were only trying to convince your manager.”

“Are you the only telepath here?” Eunwoo inquired.

“God no, I can’t collect the thoughts of everyone in the country. Another one of my coworkers is telepathic but we hire rogue telepaths to collect intel for us. Call it shady if you want. Business is business, my friend. You are a part of the food chain,” Jinwoo smirked as he took a sip of his water. “You’re still a rookie. I’m sure your mentor didn’t tell you all of this when you were a sidekick. Welcome to the real word, where one tweet or slip of the tongue can ruin your career.”

“I think the word for this is nihilistic,” Eunwoo replied. “I’m ready to do what it takes to get to the top though.”

“Well, you are in luck,” Jinwoo chimed. “Chanmi put me in charge of you because she’s busy organizing Chanyeol related events. Your manager has asked me to sift through some sponsorships that you’ve been offered. You’re pretty popular. Pretty soon, you’ll be able to do this without me or your manager. I’ll walk you through it,” Jinwoo walked back to Eunwoo, phone now in his hand. “A milk advertisement wants you to sponsor them. What do you think?”

“Kids drink a lot of milk, I think they’re a good demographic for a her-”

“Wrong,” Jinwoo cut him off. “What kind of celebrities do you see on milk advertisements?” Jinwoo didn’t let him answer. “Forgotten stars!” Jinwoo slammed his hand onto the table to draw Eunwoo into his speech. “The only time you ever see a milk advertisement is in cafeterias and usually those stars are fading ones. Starting off with a milk advertisement may not seem harmful on the surface but how many things in this industry are transparent?” Eunwoo stayed silent. “I’m glad my message was clear.”  
“A cereal would just love to have you on their box. What do you want to do?” Jinwoo rested his elbow on the table and rested the weight of his head onto his palm.

“Well, the only people you see on cereal advertisements are athletes and careers in sports don’t last too long. Even if you are an athlete it doesn’t guarantee fame either, you could’ve been chosen because the person the company wanted wasn’t available. So, it’s a bad choice?” Eunwoo asked.

“Bingo! You’re catching on quickly. I guess all pretty boys are intelligent in some way,” Jinwoo mumbled while scrolling through Myungjun’s messages. “Alright, what about an advertisement for jewelry and suits?”

“A good choice,” Eunwoo gave Jinwoo a curious look, he was unsure himself. “It shows that the person in the commercial or ad is a celebrity.”

Jinwoo made a jarring buzzing noise with his mouth. “Wrong. Well, half wrong. The only people that buy jewelry are ones who can afford it, correct? But, how many people can afford it is what you have to take into account. If most of Korea was wealthy and were upper class citizens, then sure we would go for it. Unfortunately, the opposite is true. Doing luxury commercials will make you seem unreachable. In some cases being untouchable is good. If you image is mysterious or exclusive, this would be a good advertisement. Your case is different. You’re the neighborhood pretty boy, you’re the boy the next, the dude every girl in school wants to date. You have to be in arm’s length of all your fans.”

Eunwoo nodded slowly, the effects of capitalism dawning of him. The superhero industry was an actual industry. This was new. His mentor never taught him how intricate the systems were behind closed doors. Eunwoo felt as though he had been whisked to another world, just like Dorothy. Maybe that’s why his mentor had quit the business. He had realized that the business wasn’t about justice or righteousness, it all lead back to money. Money was the root of everything. “Then, what is an example of a good commercial?” 

“Car insurance.” Jinwoo locked eyes with Eunwoo.

“Car insurance?” Eunwoo felt like Jinwoo was feeding off of his nervous thoughts.

“Car insurance!” Jinwoo wheeled back in his chair again and raised his arms. Emphasis was key. “Do you know anyone who doesn’t have car insurance?” Jinwoo rolled to Eunwoo and put his finger on his lip. “You’re about to say homeless people and they don’t count. Not to say that they aren’t people or anything, they’re just not our target demographic,” Jinwoo pushed his chair backwards again. “Does your mom have car insurance?”

“Yes.” Eunwoo nodded.

“That means your dad has car insurance by association, correct?” Jinwoo pried.

“Uh, yea.”

“You have an extended family, right? How many of them do you think have car insurance?” 

“All of them?” 

“Do you think the upper class have car insurance?”

“I’d hope so.”

“Do you think celebrities have car insurance?”

“Uh, they should. Shouldn’t they?”

“What about heroes?”

“Well, the ones that can afford cars have to get it anyway.”

“See?” Jinwoo pointed his index finger at Eunwoo. “Everyone has car insurance! Do you know who your demographic is?”

“Everyo-”

“Everyone!” Jinwoo shouted and threw his hands in the air again. “If everyone has car insurance and you’re the face of a car insurance brand, everyone can relate to you. Citizens can look to you as someone who’s just like them. The upper class citizens that are fans with you might buy the insurance and you know what this all means?” Jinwoo shuffled towards Eunwoo again, leaving him no breathing space. Their noses were inches apart and Jinwoo locked his eyes with the superhero. “Money. You want money don’t you?” The PR agent collected himself and gave Eunwoo thinking space. “Yea, you might want to save people and do all that Hollywood stuff but idols end up doing it for money instead of enjoyment as time passes.”

“When you put it like that…” Eunwoo trailed off. 

“So you’re with me, right? You’ll take the deal? Trust me, I’m an expert at all this stuff. Just put your trust in me,” Jinwoo placed his hand on his heart. “I will take responsibility.”

-

No one looked good in fluorescent lighting, not even Eunwoo. Personally, he thought he looked like those sun reflectors that beach-goers used to absorb the rays of the star. The stylist didn’t seem to have any shame or integrity and complained about his porcelain skin soaking up light every chance she could. This was very commercial. Commercial. Fake. Industrialized. All the magic that happened behind the screen was just a bunch of people yelling at each other between takes until the cameraman starts shooting. Perhaps, Dongmin should have expected the life of a hero to be akin to a celebrity’s life, but there was something inside of him that wanted and needed the opposite to be true. 

Jinwoo just said that’s life and shoved him into the limelight. Or, more, to put it more literally, shoved him onto a set that was surrounded by lights to make sure that Eunwoo’s skin was perfect. The heat that the light gave off combined with the foundation that was caked onto his face made Eunwoo feel like he was meat being broiling in the oven. He hoped that the generic Hyundai car he would have to lean on would provide cooling but it was just as hot as the air around him. 

A script was handed to him the a week prior. All the words that Dongmin had to recite seemed like something an older teacher would say when trying to relate to the students. Jinwoo had said something like: “It doesn’t matter. You’re good looking. Can you remember what Seolhyun says in her commercials? You can’t. People don’t pay attention to what you’re saying because they’re looking at your face. Once the voice over of generic man number three comes in that’s when people start hearing what the product is about. Remember, you’re a pretty face not a pretty voice.” Dongmin felt like he should be offended by Jinwoo reducing him to an object for the public eye, but Jinwoo wasn’t wrong. Heroes have always been symbols. Western superheroes were symbols of hope. Knights in medieval europe were symbols of chivalry and justice. Asian superheroes were symbols of entertainment. This whole business all boiled down to entertainment at the end of the day.

“Eunwoo,” The director called. “Hold the phone up to your face so they see the app clearer,” Eunwoo did as he was told even though he knew the director was just looking for an excuse to do a close up shot. “Perfect, now say your lines.”

“Would you like to keep track of your good driving record? Download the app, for me, okay?” Eunwoo winked and gave his award winning grin.

“Perfect!” The director shouted. “You’re a natural.”

-

“But did you die?” Jinwoo asked. “You seem fine to me. You get used to all that artificial stuff, trust me. I’ve seen it happen plenty of times,” Myungjun and Jinwoo became quick friends. Myungjun went on and on about how Jinwoo and he had so much in common. Jinwoo even got the privilege to ride in the front seat of the van. “Anyway, we’re on our way to choreograph your upcoming fight.”

“Choreograph my fight? What fight?” Eunwoo turned to Myungjun.

“The fight. With your rival.” Myungjun responded.

“I don’t have a rival-”

“You do now,” Jinwoo extended his arm to give Dongmin his phone. “Read up on him.”

“What kind of alias is Trash Bin?”

“We’re running out of ideas, okay? The great villains of the past are gone and it’s hard to think of a good alias when you’re not evil. We kind of have to make due with puns on their given names.” Jinwoo explained. 

“And trash bin was the best option?” Eunwoo gave Jinwoo the most stoic look he could muster.

“Moon Bin. Trash Bin. I think it’s cute.” Myungjun commented.

“And what’s with the whole choreograph thing? Don’t villains come and go on their own accord?”

“Oh god, no. Not anymore that is. Did your mentor keep you in the dark about everything? Yea, long ago there were all those wacky mad scientists or the troubled kids but those days are long gone. Technology has advanced significantly. Do you really think someone can make a bomb that could blow up the moon without the government noticing. It’d be pretty fucking hard to hide a bomb big enough to blow up a celestial body. And don’t even get me started with how someone could obtain those materials without a whole country of people noticing. Do you know how hard it is to infiltrate a nuclear power plant and get away with it? We have satellites too. You’ll have to have some type of signal jammer so that an army doesn’t immediately find your hideout. Even getting a signal jammer that powerful has the same problems. No one in their right mind wants to be a villain anymore. It costs too much time, too much money, and too many resources. ut, the people still want someone evil to get their shit kicked in. Which is why we decided to start higher aspiring youth to be our little villains for hire. They get recognition and maybe a documentary if we decide to drag it out into a saga and their getting paid by the agency. Win-win. You get what you want, they get what they want. Problem solved. Of course, there is the rogue we have every now and then, like the one Chanyeol encountered, but you have to either be really dumb or have nothing left to lose to pull a stunt like that. You saw what happened. Casualties. Bad, bad, bad,” Jinwoo looked bored explaining it to Eunwoo. “Anyway, tweet about how you just wrapped up filming for a project and be vague about it.”

-

“I’m Moon Bin, pleased to meet you.” Moon Bin bowed. 

“I’m Dongmin but everyone calls me Cha Eunwoo.” Eunwoo bowed back.

“Oh, I know who you are.” Bin smiled.

“Alright, Bin. This guy is ice and whatever. Dongmin, this guy can do lots of stuff with light metal. Tins, aluminium, all that stuff. Most of that stuff can be found in garbage disposals hence his name. You guys will be fighting in Ilsan. Fights always take place in Ilsan because the city was planned out prior to it’s inception so the streets are nice and aligned. And there will be hidden emergency services throughout the streets just in case Eunwoo impales you or if Bin crushes your skull or something,” Jinwoo clapped. “Let’s get started. Bin, run me through your entrance.”


End file.
